


Not the Only One

by girlwithaplan



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Protectiveness, Sharing a Bed, there’s a lot more but I don’t want to give it away so i’ll add more tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-10-09 01:23:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17397407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwithaplan/pseuds/girlwithaplan
Summary: Carlos and Jay are finally dating. Mal and Ben have been dating for awhile. They all seem happy so shouldn’t Evie be happy for them?





	1. Chapter 1

“Aw shit! Jay! You cheated!” Carlos yelled as he tossed his controller on the couch between them.

Jay whooped and held his own controller high over his head in victory, “No way, C! I won fair and square!” Carlos scowled, but his bright eyes betrayed his pouty expression. Jay grinned as he stood over Carlos and looked down at him, fully prepared to milk his win for all its worth.

“C’mon,” Jay goaded, “say it.”

Carlos wouldn’t look at Jay and huffed, “Say what?”

Jay let his controller join Carlos’ on the couch so he could tip his chin up and make him meet his eyes,

“Say I won fair. You know I didn’t cheat.” Carlos was fighting a smile of his own, but he tried valiantly to keep up the pout. He rolled his eyes and whispered, never breaking eye contact,

“I guess you won fair. You didn’t cheat. You won.” Jay smiled wide and dropped himself onto Carlos, earning him a small “oof” from the boy below him.

“I think I deserve a prize for that win,” Jay said sweetly, leaning into Carlos’ personal space almost so their noses were touching, “since I hardly ever win without knocking your controller out of your hand.”

Carlos would’ve laughed but being this close to Jay still made him swoon a little. Swallowing thickly, he asked, “What kind of prize?”

He could feel Jay’s smile against his mouth when their lips met, and, even though they’d been officially dating for a few months, Carlos still felt giddy whenever they kissed. He still felt butterflies when Jay reached for his hand or put his arm around him. He had to try really hard not to absolutely melt if Jay hugged him or kissed him outside of their room. Not that he wasn’t a puddle of goo inside their room when Jay did any of those things, but he didn’t have to keep it together. In fact, Jay liked it that Carlos got overwhelmed by his touch, he liked riling Carlos up and Carlos certainly wasn’t complaining. 

Slowly, Carlos let his hands wrap around Jay’s back to try to pull him down to lay on top of him, but Jay broke their kiss instead. Carlos let his eyes fall open and saw Jay smiling at him with a mischievous glint in his eye. He hopped off of Carlos and handed him the controller off the couch, proclaiming, “Time for round 2!”

“Noooo!” Carlos groaned and gave Jay his best puppy eyes, “I said you won!” Jay simply shook his head and reminded him, “The overall winner gets to pick what we do tomorrow night, and I am not watching any more movies about dogs.” Carlos used his controller to pull up the next game before he promised, “I wouldn’t count on that, you got lucky last time.” Jay laughed and Carlos smiled at the sound before turning his attention to the game at hand.

~

An hour later, Carlos and Jay are still playing, but with much less of a competitive edge. They’d fallen into a rhythm, much more focused on beating the game itself rather than each other. They were so involved, in fact, that it took Carlos a second to realize someone was knocking quietly on their door. 

“What time is it?” Jay asked, yawning a little. Carlos checked his phone as he made his way to the door and responded, “Almost 11. Too early for curfew check on a Friday.” When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Evie on the other side. He smiled a genuine smile that he kept for the vks and the vks alone (okay and maybe Ben sometimes) and said, “Hi Evie! What’s up?” 

It was only after he spoke that he took in her slumped posture and the absence of her normally dazzling smile. She looked tired and she hadn’t even made eye contact with him when he opened the door. Carlos reached out and pulled Evie into the room gently by her arm. Once he closed the door, he asked, “Evie, are you okay?” 

Jay was on his feet and next to them immediately, taking Evie’s bag from her and tossing it unceremoniously onto his bed. Without the bag to hold, Evie’s hands twitched, almost like she was nervous. Carlos hadn’t seen her this upset since the Chad incident, and that had happened months ago. He glanced at Jay and saw the same stony confusion he knew was on his own face. Whoever had hurt or upset Evie would have them to reckon with, but Carlos wasn’t sure that was what she needed at the moment. 

“Do you want to tell us what happened, E?” Carlos asked, trying to catch her gaze. Without looking at them, Evie nodded. Jay glanced at Carlos before he asked Evie, “Do you want to talk about it right now?” Evie shook her head and the boys could see her cheeks turning pink, like she was embarrassed and Carlos couldn’t stand it. Evie didn’t need to be ashamed of anything around them, and he hoped she knew that. 

“We were playing a game,” Carlos started and cut his eyes at Jay, hoping he would pick up on what Carlos was going for, “do you wanna sit with us?” Jay bumped Carlos’ shoulder and he knew his boyfriend understood. Evie finally looked up at them, biting her lip like she was unsure and it killed Carlos to see her so hesitant. 

“You don’t have to talk about it until you’re ready,” he promised, glancing at Jay for help. Thankfully, Jay nodded and reached for Evie’s hand, “Yeah, E,” he said, pulling her toward the couch, “come sit down and chill and only talk if you want to, okay?” Evie let him pull her along and Carlos and Jay took seats on either side of her. They started the game again and, after a few long, quiet moments, Evie reached down to untie her boots and toss them out of the way so she could get more comfortable and Carlos felt his shoulders relax. They could figure out the problem, they could help Evie with whatever (or whoever) was bothering her. 

Shortly after Evie removed her shoes and took down her hair, however, Jay’s character on the screen died way too easily. He was about to ask why, but then he looked to his right and saw Evie leaning her head on Jay’s shoulder. Carlos’ heart sank and he felt a twinge of guilt. Had he been so wrapped up in his new-ish romance that he’d neglected the first real friend he ever had? 

Jay looked at Carlos over Evie’s blue hair and said quietly, “Why don’t you try the solo level, C? Unlock some more shit.” Carlos nodded and started a new game, but he wasn’t really paying much attention. He was thinking about asking again if she wanted to tell them what was going on, but Jay spoke up first, 

“Hey, hey, Eves,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders protectively, “it’s okay.” Carlos realized after a moment that Evie was crying softly into Jay’s shoulder. Carlos tossed his controller onto the floor and scooted closer to Evie, running his hand over her hair, and promised, “It’s okay, Evie. Whatever it is, we can fix it.” She made a choked noise and started to sob, so Jay pulled her into a hug. 

Carlos didn’t want them to be disturbed or for Evie to get any more embarrassed by an interruption, so he got up to turn off the tv and lock the door before returning to the couch. He squished up close to them and put one arm around Evie and the other around Jay, holding them both as best he could. He hoped whatever was wrong, they really could fix it. He’d never lied to Evie before and he didn’t want to start now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evie finally comes clean.

The bathroom door shut with a click behind Evie and Carlos turned to Jay, eyes wide and worried, “What do you think is wrong?” Stretching his arms over his head, Jay stood up before he responded, “I don’t know”.

Jay paused to pull his shirt over his head and toss it into his dirty clothes pile; Evie had cried a lot. “But if there’s someone I can beat up, you know I’m game,” he said while rifling through his messy dresser drawers and selecting a tank top. He flexed at Carlos, who huffed and threw a pillow at him, which Jay caught easily.

Evie emerged from the bathroom before Carlos could throw anything else at his boyfriend and, much to Carlos’ relief, she looked much more relaxed. She took a breath and said quietly, “You guys probably want to know why I ruined Jay’s shirt.”

Carlos wished he could get her to understand that they would _never_ be upset with her for being sad, so he said, “Evie, we don’t mind that you cried. You’ve seen me cry a bunch of times.” Jay nodded his agreement and crossed his arms, a concerned expression returning to his face. Evie sighed and swallowed several times, trying to gather her courage. These were her boys, two of her best friends in the whole word, why was telling them this so _hard_?

“I was talking to Chad earlier and he said something that just,” Evie paused and smoothed her hands down her skirt, “threw me off. I didn’t really expect it to make me upset but it did.” Jay balled his fists, but Carlos spoke up before Jay could, “Okay, what did he say?” Carlos could feel the barely-contained anger coming off of Jay and he knew, if given the chance, Jay would let it loose on Chad and Carlos wasn’t sure that would actually help her. _But_ , he thought to himself, _it would be kinda hot to watch._

Evie sat down at the edge of Carlos’ bed so she could pet Dude while she explained, “It wasn’t just what he said but what he said didn’t help.” The boys took seats at the desk (Carlos) and on the desk (Jay) and waited for her to continue. “It’s just,” Evie started, berating herself for getting choked up again after she’d already spent 20 minutes crying on Jay, “I’m alone.” Evie looked down, ashamed of her admission, and Carlos glanced at Jay, who looked just as confused as Carlos felt.

“Evie,” Jay said, squinting his eyes to look at her carefully, like maybe he’d missed something, “we are literally right here.” He gestured between himself and Carlos, which made Evie laugh, but it was a joyless sound and it made the hairs stand up on Carlos’ arms. “That’s not what I mean,” she said, looking at them each in turn, “you guys have each other and Mal has Ben and Chad has Audrey sometimes and,” she swallowed hard before she continued, “I don’t have anyone.” Carlos moved from his seat to the bed and put Dude on the floor so he could sit next to Evie and try to understand better. “What did Chad say?” he asked, putting a tentative hand on Evie’s shoulder. His instinct was to reach for her hand and hold it but that hadn’t done that since the Isle and he didn’t want to do anything wrong in this moment.

“He said that there must be something wrong with me,” Evie hung her head as she spoke, “that I was the only Isle kid who couldn’t get anyone to date me.” Evie hung her head and kept going, “And he’s kind of right. Since Doug and I called it off no one looks twice at me.” She looked up to find Jay’s expression hard and Carlos’s sad. She felt more words bubbling up and spilling out before she could stop them, “And Mal and I were supposed to hang out tonight but Ben surprised her with a trip out of town and of course she should go he’s so nice! And I was sad but I can’t tell her that because she’s back and she’s finally happy and she and Ben are getting along so well and he’s so good for her! So I tried to at least go to the library to study and then I saw like five couples studying together and it was so annoying. And then Chad just came up to me out of nowhere and said what he said just to get to me and it worked and I knew I couldn’t just cry in the library! So I came here and I almost didn’t even do that because I didn’t want to interrupt, but I just couldn’t be alone anymore, I’m so,” she took a shuddering breath and barely kept her voice from cracking before she kept going, “I’m so lonely. I try not to be and I don’t want to bother anyone but we used to be together all the time and now I’m just,”

Evie felt herself heating up with shame and wanted to apologize for speaking so much and getting so worked up, but was cut off by Carlos taking her hand and linking their fingers together like he’d been wanting to. She looked down at their hands and back up at Carlos and he looked like he might cry too when he spoke softly, “I’m so sorry, Evie. I didn’t know. I should’ve noticed.”

“Yeah,” Jay added quietly, suddenly on one knee in front of her, almost like he wanted to bow to her which made Evie’s stomach do a little flip, “I’m sorry, too, E.” She shook her head, they shouldn’t be apologizing to her. After all, she was the one feeling sorry for herself, she should be the one apologizing, but Jay took her other hand and Carlos’ too before he continued, “I should’ve told you,” he looked up at Carlos as he spoke, “that I have been missing your treehouse like crazy, C.” Carlos’ eyes widened; clearly he hadn’t been expecting Jay to say that so this was news to him too. Jay smiled sadly and spoke again, “I don’t miss having to run for our lives our worry that one of you would get seriously hurt, but I do miss our nights up there.” Jay sighed and squeezed Evie’s hand, “I miss sleeping near you guys. Both of you, all three of us, well four if we could get Mal close enough to be in the pile too.”

All three of them laughed at the memories of trying (and mostly failing) to get Mal to cuddle with them or even sleep close enough to grab in their sleep, but she usually preferred sleeping alone. Evie laughed and it sounded more like her usual laugh, “Trust me, that has not changed since we came here. She is still firmly against cuddling most of the time.” Carlos laughed and Jay smiled as he spoke further, “E, would you maybe want to sleep in here tonight?”

She considered his question and glanced at Carlos' big, brown eyes still sad but hopeful, and she couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice when she answered, “I think I could sneak back after curfew checks. Would that really be okay? I wouldn’t be, you know, interrupting anything?”

“You can interrupt me anytime, princess,” Jay said with a wink. Rolling here eyes while also giving both of their hands a gentle squeeze in thanks, Evie stood up off the bed and walked over to the couch to pull on her boots. After zipping up her boots and grabbing her bag, she made her way to the door but paused with her hand on the knob as a wave of anxiety rolled over her. Without looking back at them, she asked, “You guys really don’t mind me staying here tonight?”

“Evie,” Carlos said, waiting for her to turn around before he continued, “we always want you around. You’re never bothering us.” Jay threw an arm around Carlos and added, "Yeah, Eves, we like having you around." A weight lifted off of Evie's shoulders and she found the strength to turn the door handle. “Thanks,” she said, offering them both a small smile before ducking out to make it back to her room before midnight checks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a little longer than I'd like, but I wanted to make sure it was as good as I could make it! I am working on chapter 3 to be published hopefully by the end of this week! Then you'll have to wait a little for chapter 4 because I have a TON of work to do at my new job, then I will be right back on it. I'm not sure how many chapters this will have, but I'm thinking a minimum of 5, possible more. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve tries to finally get some rest .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’re still following along, know that I appreciate you so much!! My personal life has been HELL the past few months, but I finally had some time to write up another chapter. Hope y’all enjoy!

The halls were quiet when Evie emerged from hers and Mal’s room, pajama-clad and sock-footed to muffle the sound of her steps on the soft carpet below. She hefted her bag over her shoulder and tip-toed past several door without making a sound; sneaking was kind of her thing on the Isle, and Evie was glad to find she hadn’t lost all her evil-ish abilities when she chose good. She let herself think about it too long, though, and it reminded her of what Chad had said, making her stomach twist up in knots again. Maybe he was right, maybe there was something the matter with her. 

The thought of being the odd one out of her group of best friends, the ONLY one incapable of finding any kind of love, nearly made Evie cry for a third time that evening. Cursing herself for being weak, Evie raised to her hand to knock on Jay and Carlos’ door when she heard the familiar creek of a wooden door opening down the hall. Quickly, without time to think, Evie darted out a nearby door and found herself outside the building entirely. She waited for a few seconds so whomever was roaming the halls could pass by and then turned the doorknob—only to find it locked. 

Of course, Evie thought, this might as well  
happen. Huffing, Evie walked around the side of the building and realized she had no idea which room was the right one. She’d seen Jay climb out of his window (much to Fairy Godmother’s dismay) so she knew they could open one at least. Hurriedly, she whipped out her phone and texted Carlos: 

Open the window that faces the courtyard for me please and thank you xoxo

Instead of a response, she saw light streaming into the courtyard from a window a few yards away and sprinted over to it. Carlos reached a hand out and Evie handed him her bag so she could climb in and shut the window behind her. 

“Thanks,” she said, a little more out of breath than she expected. She could hear Jay chuckling and Carlos shushing him and just being in the room with them put her mind at ease. Evie allowed herself to collapse into a chair and Carlos asked, “Why the window?” She told them about her misfortune and they all laughed, it felt so good to be laughing with them and Evie didn’t want it to end. 

~  
Later that night, they’d settled down with Evie in Carlos’ bed and Jay and Carlos in the other. (She had insisted she could sleep on the couch but the boys wouldn’t let her. Besides, Jay had said, Carlos always ends up in my bed anyway. Carlos didn’t argue but his cheeks turned red and Evie felt a twinge of jealousy. She’d have to pack that away for later). 

Jay, lucky bastard, was asleep almost as soon as the lights went out. And after Carlos whispered “goodnight” to her, he turned into Jay and seemed to fall asleep almost as quickly. Evie took a while longer to fall asleep, listening to their breathing and watching how Jay kept an arm close around Carlos and seemed unbothered by Carlos’ head under his chin. She wished she could take a picture of how peaceful they looked, so young in their sleep. 

Back on the Isle, they’d all slept like that whenever they could; holding each other for warmth and companionship and even a little comfort since soft beds and pillows were hard to find growing up. Evie had spent many night laying awake sandwiched between Carlos and Jay, or more rarely, in a pile with all four of them, just relishing the closeness. Her mother never touched her to comfort her, growing up. If EQ touched Evie, it was to pinch, to yank, to examine, to criticize. 

A memory came flooding back to Evie, she was small, maybe 4 or 5 years old, and she’d fallen down the stairs of her castle. She’d banged her knee and her mother found Evie crying at the bottom of the staircase, clutching her bruised leg. Evil Queen had yanked Evie up by her hair and turned her cold, calculating eyes on Evie’s injury. She poked and prodded and when Evie cried out, she got a hard pinch on her arm for her trouble. 

“Stop crying!” her mother had shouted at her, ”You are an ugly, naughty girl, Evie, and you will never find a prince looking like you do!” and then she had dragged Evie to her room and locked the door, promising no food until the bruise was gone. Evie had cried and begged for 3 days before she realized it wasn’t worth it. 

And she was crying now, damn it. She wiped at her eyes harshly, it was silly to cry over that day now. Evie was silly and ugly, she knew that. And suddenly, she felt a rush of guilt and embarrassment over how she’d acted today. If only her mother had seen. Before she could stop herself, Evie sniffed much louder than she meant to and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Did she have to be such a loud crier? 

Evie flipped over on her side away from the boys to block the noise. They’d been so kind to her, the least she could do was let them sleep. She forced herself to cry silently, sobbing into Carlos’ pillow. Truthfully, Evie was a little surprised she had tears left to cry after earlier. Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax into the bed and fall asleep, but before she could really try, the bed dipped slightly and Evie could make out the faint outline of Carlos slipping under the covers next to her. 

Slowly, he reached out and brushed the tears away from her cheeks with achingly gentle fingers. Without speaking, Carlos leaned forward and pressed his lips to Evie’s forehead and Evie felt herself shudder and the tension fall away from her body all at once. They stayed like that for a few long minutes before Carlos moved back and laid on the pillow with her. He draped his arm around her and she grabbed a handful of his shirt. Evie could feel Carlos’ breath on her skin when he whispered, “goodnight, Evie” before drifting back to sleep. Evie felt sleep pull her down with her mind chanting over and over, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”   
~

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thanks for reading! I wrote this awhile back but didn’t post it because I had to figure out where I wanted this story to go. It could still change but I at least have the next chapter figured out. Leave me any feedback or suggestions in the comments! 
> 
> P.S. I left the tags incomplete on purpose because I didn’t want to say my endgame at the beginning. But they will change!


End file.
